~~Author's Note~~
So, I'm an idiot. In my last – rather suckish - chapter, I referred to the upcoming tests as midterms, when in fact, they are finals. I'm a failure.
Disclaimer: I own nothing. In fact, I own so little, that I live in a cardboard box on the street corner.
Chapter 14
July 12th
"This isn't a game to us."
Souji found himself dwelling over the words he had spoken to a certain hat-wearing detective not twenty-four hours ago. He had meant what he said, but something still bothered him.
When the case ended, where would he find himself? These murders – these powers – had brought his friends together, forming the basis of a bond between them. Would the loss of the case leave drifting apart, their promises fulfilled, and no reason to speak to each other again? That is what Souji feared the most.
And then, there was the issue of the detective himself. Something about this Naoto Shirogane bothered the city boy as well, though he didn't know why out of all things, he chose to worry himself over a stranger.
"It is rather unfortunate that people are only attentive so long as our services are required… But then, I'm accustomed to it." He had seemed so sad, almost like an abandoned puppy, as he uttered those words. Souji couldn't help but wonder if perhaps this Naoto was suppressing something himself.
Whatever the case was, Souji didn't intend to waste his day off by dwelling on things he couldn't change. For now, he'd just have to wait to see how things would play out.
I sighed, training my gaze on the bulky silver devise clutched in my palm. The words my sister had just spoken to me from said devise echoed in my head like a broken record.
"The police have a suspect." As if saying the words out loud would make them make any more sense to myself, I uttered the sentence several times. "That's a good thing, right? At least one of my headaches will resolve peacefully." But even as I spoke, I couldn't help but wonder.
What would happen between Naoto and myself? Before this case had started, my younger sister had barely spoken to me. Our communication had dwindled so greatly that I would only get a call if a very important situation arose. In fact, before the Inaba Murders, we had been going on a year without a single spoken word between the two of us.
In all honesty, though, I didn't want that to happen again. I didn't want to loose my sister for a third time.
I blinked away the stinging sensation in my eyes, and continued to stare at my phone. "Naoto… Why am I always being abandoned by you?"
July 13th
Minato and I arrived back at the dorm later in the night than normal.
"Um… Thanks for helping me study…" I stared at my feet, trying not to blush. With finals starting tomorrow, I had resorted to begging the blue-haired boy to help me review the material, which, surprisingly, he had been willing to do.
In response to my comment, Minato only nodded.
"I guess we missed dinner." Sure enough, our dorm mates were all clustered around the dining table, but there was not a plate to be seen. My partner and I quickly joined them.
"Hola, everyone~!"
"Hey."
Only a few muffled replies.
An awkward silence filled the room like a fog – radiating mainly from a certain two female members - and everyone seemed to be feeling its effects.
"Umm…" Fuuka started, apparently hoping to break the tension. "Y-you know, it's almost summer break. Do you have any plans?"
My mind instantly flew to Inaba. "I'll be spending part of it with my grandfather in the country. What about you all?"
"I wish I could go to the beach." Junpei exclaimed, sounding more like himself than he had in a while. "Hot sand, cool breeze, babes in bikinis... Man, it sure would be nice! Somewhere in the south, where the water is crystal clear! But first we have exams to worry about... Ugh, what a drag..."
I concur, Junpei. I concur. Um, about the finals, not about the bikinis… Yeah, you know what I mean.
The teal haired girl gave him a sympathetic pat. "Now, now. You'll be fine. But yeah, I'd love to go somewhere famous for its beautiful beaches, like Okinawa."
The Chairman's voice then nearly made me jump out of my skin. As it were, I still flinched slightly as Ikutsuki seemed to magically appear in the lounge. "Well, it's not Okinawa, but how about Yakushima?"
"Holy- Wh- When did he get here?"
Ignoring my outburst – as seemed to be per norm for Mitsuru – the redhead stood up to greet the elder gentleman.
"I happened to be in the area, so I thought I'd drop by and tell you my schedule for next week."
"Stop by and give me a heart attack." Was muttered under my breath. Still, I was ignored.
"Mitsuru, your father will be vacationing in Yakushima during the break. You'll all have some time off after exams, right? Why don't you go and pay him a surprise visit?"
Naturally, Junpei took advantage of this to exclaim excitedly, "Seriously? We're gonna take a trip? YES! Beach babes, here I come!"
"Is that all you think about?" I asked, and at the same time, Yukari sighed, "Ugh… Men…"
"How about it, Mitsuru?"
Debby Downer –I mean, Mitsuru – frowned. "But… My father is a busy man; I don't want to ruin his vacation."
"Haha, don't worry...no father would be upset with a daughter who came all that way to see him. You've all done a great job. You deserve to relax for a while. We already know when the next operation will be, so it should be fine."
'A vacation would do me some good… And I can bug the hell out of Minato… That's always a good time.' "Yeah… I like the sound of that…"
After a brief, agonizing moment, Mitsuru nodded. "…Alright. I guess everyone needs a break every now and then. Let's do it."
Junpei and I let out identical cheers of excitement, while Akihiko mused.
"Hmm, the beach...I should design a special training regimen."
"I know I just said this to Junpei, but I will repeat my statement for you, senpai. Is that all you think about?"
Even Minato seemed just a little bit more animated. I think this trip'll be good for all of us.
In the midst of the celebration, the Kirijo heiress used that opportunity to slip upstairs. Yukari noticed this at the same time I did, the brunette following quickly after her senpai. My long-buried detective instinct took over then, and I followed them to the staircase, where I conveniently overheard their conversation.
"Um, Senpai! Uh… Sorry about the other day… I got a little carried away."
"Don't worry about it. In a way, it's only logical that we go to Yakushima. The Chairman said that no one who was responsible for the accident is still alive, but...in reality, there is one witness who survived."
"There is?"
"My father."
July 18th
At long last, the much-awaited 'last day of exams' has finally arrived. I'm sure my usual silent traveling companion had to be annoyed with my bouncing, but I really didn't care what he thought at that point. The summer air, coupled with my excitement at being out of school fueled my body to the point where it couldn't be considered healthy.
"Yo, what's up?" Junpei met us at the gate, seeming to be acting a little more like his usual self. "Thank god today's the last day of exams... I can't wait to let off some steam. Dude, don't you just love summer?"
"I love summer! I really, really love summer! Summersummersummersummer…"
"..." Minato sighed. I turned to stare at him, in my hyper state just now noticing how blue his hair looked in the sunlight.
"Pretty blue…"
"Kasumi… Calm."
"I- Is she okay?"
"No."
"No, I'm not. HEY, you're not supposed to agree with me!"
Minato reclined in his chair, feeling rather accomplished. During that last test, it had felt like his pen was moving of its own accord. The questions had been too easy! He only half-listened to his friends' exclamations of excitement at the end of exams, only perking up when the conversation rolled around to Yakushima.
"Oh yeah, that's coming up soon. Are ya ready?" Yukari directed the question to the headphone-wearing boy.
"What about you?"
"Me? Umm… Not really. I guess I should be more enthusiastic, huh? Hey, I don't have practice today, so do you wanna do something?"
"Sounds good! Where we goin'? If you need to buy a swimsuit, I'd be happy to help!"
Yukari scoffed at the group's resident pervert. "As if! All right, gimme a sec, I'm gonna go grab my stuff from the locker room. Oh, I'll invite Fuuka and Kasumi, too."
After the brunette had left, Junpei turned to face Minato, a guilty look on his usually carefree face.
"Hey… I know I've been kind of a dick lately… …But we're still cool, right?"
"…Yeah. We're cool." The blue-haired boy nodded, not one to hold grudges.
"Thanks, dude. Anyway, that's all history. It's you and me now, bro. All right, let's get going."
"Hey, Junpei, Minato, and I were going to hang out." I was mildly surprised to find Yukari in our classroom after school, addressing Fuuka and myself. "You guys wanna come with?"
"Ooh, an epic quest to battle monsters, slay demons, find treasure, and the like?"
"Uhmm… Yeah, no. I was just thinking about going to the mall."
The shy girl next to me nodded. "That sounds like fun, Yukari-chan."
"Yeah, I'll go, too."
So, with that, the three of us left school, and met up with the guys at the gate. Our white-haired senpai was there, too. In the commotion Junpei was causing, I turned to him.
"Akihiko-senpai? When did you get here?"
"Ikutsuki-san called me. I think he wants to talk about a new candidate."
Leaving Junpei to his own devises, Yukari turned to him. "Does that mean another person's going to join?"
"Maybe…"
At that moment, a familiar voice rang out, "Fuuka!" That voice belonged to Natsuki, a girl I recognized from my class as a friend of Fuuka's.
"What's wrong, Natsuki-chan?
The girl said in a slightly annoying voice, "Do you think you can stay after school with me for a mandatory study session? There's, like, no one…" She trailed off as her gaze rested on the others. "Oh, you're going to your home home today, huh? Okay, never mind, then."
Fuuka stopped her as she turned to leave. "Hey, wait. It's all right, let's go. Sorry, I'll see you all later back at the dorm."
Everyone was slightly surprised at the usually timid girl's outgoing-ness. "She hasn't always been like that, huh?" I asked, then, for the second time in the course of a couple weeks, the Chairman appeared out of nowhere to give me a heart attack.
"Ah, friendship… How beautiful!"
"GAH!" With a shout of shock, I ducked behind Minato, peeking over his shoulder to glare at Ikutsuki. The older brunette chuckled slightly.
"Adolescence is a wonderful thing! So full of vibrancy!"
"I-Ikutsuki-san…!"
"Oh, hello." He said, as if he had just then noticed the five of us standing there. "I just stopped by to pick someone up. I might as well introduce him now." On queue, a young boy stepped up. He looked to be no older than eleven, with slightly shaggy brown hair and eyes. A school uniform was visible underneath a bright orange jacket. The kid greeted everyone with a quiet, "Hello."
Eyes lit with recognition, Yukari nodded to the boy. "Oh, hi, Ken-kun. What's up?"
Akihiko, whose expression was one of absolute shock, asked, "You know him…?"
"He doesn't leave during the break because of his...circumstances." Ikutsuki said.
"Oh, I heard about that… Something about his parents…"
'This Ken seems really mature for his age…' I mused, watching the kid answer Yukari's statement.
"It was only me and my mom, but she got in an accident, and she… she died... It happened two years ago."
I felt a stab of sympathy for the kid, and almost missed Ikutsuki's response.
"Right now, one of his distant relatives is paying for his school expenses. But staying at the elementary school dorm all by himself isn't proper for a child his age. So I decided to move him to your dorm for the summer."
"Our dorm? Well, that sounds like a fantastic idea…" I muttered, thinking of our midnight excursions.
"I don't see why not. He has the potential."
If possible, Akihiko looked even more shocked, to the point where his dark eyes bulged in his skull. "Then, he's the new candidate?"
"Yes. But as you can see, he's still just an elementary school student. So it is merely a possibility for now." Senpai didn't say anything else, but his expression didn't change, even when the kid approached him with an admiring look on his face.
"Are you… Sanada-senpai?"
"Um… yeah."
"I've heard a lot about you. You haven't lost a boxing match yet." Ken had an expression reminiscent of someone meeting their idol, which I suppose is an accurate enough description.
The senior just sighed. "Yeah… Well, it's nice to meet you…"
Naoto let out a small sigh, shoving her hands further in her pockets as she walked the darkened city streets. The glow of twilight lit the path of the floodplain she was traversing. Her head was reeling, thoughts going faster than was probably healthy. So many aspects of this case didn't make sense, and she was almost certain the suspect the police had found was not the one responsible for all the murders.
She sighed again, but was not expecting the noise to be echoed back to her. There, sitting on a bench a little ways away, was none other than Souji Seta, a look of deep contemplation gracing his features.
'This isn't a game to us.'
'Then, what is it?' She silently challenged. 'You must know more than you let on.'
"I'm not interrupting anything, I hope?" The detective asked, approaching the boy, who looked up with mild surprise.
"Oh. No."
"This is a good place to be alone with your thoughts, I find."
Souji nodded, a far-away look in his eyes. "You must have a lot to think about."
"That may be true… Am I correct in assuming that I'm not the only one with much on my mind?"
A wry smile appeared on Souji's face. "You can assume."
"Assumptions can only get one so far. Solving anything requires facts and logic."
"Spoken like a true detective." The white-haired boy agreed, then the two lapsed into a slightly uncomfortable silence.
"Well, I shouldn't keep you from your thoughts any longer. With the case wrapping up, I don't think either of us can do anything for the other." Naoto turned to head home.
"Yeah. I suppose you're right."
Naoto smiled slightly. "In my years of experience, I find that… I usually am."
And something tells me I'm right in my deductions about you, Souji Seta.
~~Author's Note~~
Short chapter is short, no?
I would really like Investigation Team fun, but there's a whole lot of nothing in P4 for a while, so… TO YAKUSHIMA! Which is always a good time.
I really don't like Ken all that much… He is no Nanako.
Anyway, I wanted to apologize for my sub-par chapter last time, and hope that this not-much-better one pleases you all more. I had a teensy bit of writer's block, which is why this all seems very forced. I pretty much just copied the scenes exactly, adding Kasumi lines. I hope the next chapter will be better.
m(_ _)m
I'm so sorry….
